Where did the summer go?

Well, most of the summer I have been doing this...

 Yep - sitting on my rear end.  hah j/k
We have been super busy - In Aug we went and saw Grandma K. 

 In July we saw my neice at her reception

 also had a family reunion and a trip with Grandma H.

 We had lots of fun making puppets and putting on a big puppet show.

 Painted faces...

 We went and saw the Angel Moroni getting put on the temple.

 and we've been having fun playing with and getting know our new baby sister.

 and we had the special priviledge of seeing Great-grandma F.

 and of course lots of swimming with friends and family...

 So there's a quick update of our summer.  And we also had a few special occasions in our family.  Our oldest got baptized and our youngest blessed.

We have had lots of fun this summer, and we sill have some time left before we get back to school and all the in-s and out that come with that.  We hope you all had a fantastic summer too.

Eight

Eight years ago I became a mom for the first time.  A beautiful baby girl with lots of attitude from the very begining.  Her bright (toothless) grin makes me smile and she is very caring and helpful.  Super bright, a great dancer, and has a love for gymnastics just like her mom.

 Eight days ago, I became a mom for the fourth time.  Each one has been different and so amazing in their own way.  This time it was another beautiful baby girl.  Unlike her siblings she is very calm, quiet, and sleeps; a blessing I think the whole family was in need of.  Her siblings adore her and fight over who gets to hold her. I've only included her big sister in this post because it's her birthday, and I'm celebrating 8's.  (8 years and 8 days)

April Happenings at our house.

So this was Big D the middle of march...and this was big D the begining of April.  She lost 6 teeth since the begining of the year.  The last 4 coming out within a month - 3 in one week.  Crazy!!  Hopefully she won't be the toothless wonder for too long.

April started out with some nice weather and a new Wheelbarrow.  I'm not sure who had more fun - daddy or the kids.

 Then W had a fieldtrip to a local farm and little D got to tag along.

 Then it was time for easter festivities.  So glad that W's preschool let me make treats - you just can't buy things like this in the store.  (it's a good thing I have a food handler's permit)

 Dying eggs was next on the list.  Here's a sample of what we did.

 Some quick easter morning pics before church.  I had to be there early for choir practice so I didn't get as good of pics as I wanted, but I think I will have to do a little photo shoot with them later.

 It was such a nice day (and this little guy knows how to open the doors now) and this is what I found when I was calling them for lunch.  He's just too cute - so much for keeping the new outfit clean - haha.

 The egg hunt...

 What do you do with all that candy?  Eat it all at once of course.

 And finally we had an amazing storm yesterday and this is what we got at the end.  So beautiful - pictures don't do it justice.  The colors were so vibrant and it was a double rainbow if you look closely.

It was the first time little D had seen a rainbow and he was fascinated.  He kept opening the door and talking about the rainbow and then when it was gone he kept asking it to come back. 

I couldn't pick my fav video so I posted both.  Please don't mind his messy face :)

Mornings and Muffins

Some mornings at our house are horrible, and some mornings are absolutely priceless.

 I love the amazing smiles on all the kidos faces.  You can just feel their love for each other radiating from their faces.  and yes - little D must be growing because he can't put the muffin down for a minute. 

and yes, it is still cold here.  hence the blankets.  and all the weatherizing we did didn't help one bit, in fact our bill went up.  uggg.  oh well, hopefully the ground hog was right and spring will be here soon.

A few random things

Little D doesn't really get to take bubble baths because we are so busy lately.  But the other day we threw all the kids in the bath and added the bubbles for obvious reasons.  This is what they did...

 looks like they had a lot of fun.
Then we like to make projects for Grandma and Grandpa and little D got to do them this year.  Shaving cream is always a hit, and this year we painted with flour as well.

A little boy - a lot of trouble.

Ok - so this first picture he's not messing around - he's watching his big sister go to school, and so is the dog.  The dog loves to go outside and watch her from the corner of the lot and sometimes she will stay there waiting for a few hours.

 This is the trouble.  I cleared out his closet getting ready for the new baby to arrive, and now he throws the toys on the floor and climb them to get on his shelf - during nap time.

 And this is what I found the other day when I went to get him for something.

All those toys he must just not have enough time to play with all of them.

Christmas 2010

We had a very laid back Christmas this year.  We decorated gingerbread houses on Christmas Eve, had our big dinner that night and of course did the traditional Christmas story by candlelight.  We never did get a picture with all of us by the tree this year.  Makes me sad but well, Christmas eve was the first night we were all together all month long - at least that's what it felt like.

 Big D's poor house got wet and wouldn't stay together, she was very sad about that, but at least she got this far.

 The first look at Christmas morning goodies.  I'm not sure why everyone had to have hats on.

 opening presents

This is so fun to watch.  Their first sword fight.